Maintaining Long-Term Client Relationships
When it comes to clients, it is better to pursue relationships instead of projects. We’ll build our businesses more successfully via relationships and connections, not
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tools
ARTICLES.
Tips and Insights on Mission, Mindset, Mechanics, and Marketing for Freelance Creatives
10 Ups and Downs of Freelancing
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Freelancing provides more freedom than any other type of work structure. With that freedom come the responsibilities of ownership and reputation. When we choose to
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Boost Your Profits With Mark Ups
A mark up, also known as percentage over cost, is one way you can increase your freelance revenue. Marking up is a common business practice,
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Why Branding Is Crucial If You Want To Be Profitable
Creative freelancers invest time and effort carefully crafting brands for their clients. In regard to their own brands, they often come up short. Creatives should
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Why Design Is Not Self-Expression
If we approach a design solution as an opportunity for self-expression, we’ll miss the point and risk not solving the problem.
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How To Write An Effective Creative Brief
Creative freelancers can save time and avoid miscommunication when working with their if they use an effective creative brief in their process. Simply talking about project expectations
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Six Things Freelancers Should Do to Communicate Their Value
The difference between discounting your services for Client A and charging Client B full price is one of positioning and communication. Both of these are value propositions.
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How Much Will It Cost?
All too often a business or organization seeks a designer to execute an untested, unrefined idea as quickly and cheaply as possible. A business that’s design-oriented will not regard design as an afterthought but as the basis for its marketing communications and brand awareness.
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GDPR Compliance Steps for US-Based Freelancers
The European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation goes into full effect on May 25, 2018. The internet and blogdom are all abuzz about getting
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How to Build Your Prospecting Pipeline
As an independent creative, prospecting is a practical and necessary business activity that needs focused attention to. It requires work to maintain a pipeline of
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How to Avoid Spam in Your Blog Comments
One thing I really appreciate about using WordPress for my website platform is the multitude of time-saving plug-ins available. One plug-in I really appreciate is Akismet. Akismet recognizes and
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Risk and Reward: How Taking Risks Helps Your Freelance Career
Risk. It’s a small word with big impact. Taking risks involves change and the unknown. We’re not all that comfortable with either concept. I was
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The Art of Influence: 5 Ways to Affect Your Outcomes and Attract Clients
If you want to be successful, you need to be influential. Influence can be positive or negative, and everyone has influence. The key for success
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Self-Promotion Tips for Creative Freelancers
Self promotion is the practice of telling potential clients about what you do. With it you build your brand, engage prospects and find clients. As a
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Can you include work created as an employee in your freelance portfolio?
One conundrum freelancers face when they shift gears from employment to independence is: Can I include the work I created for the company in my
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Three Things To Do Before Responding To An Unhappy Client
Has something like this ever happened to you? You have a solid, signed written contract with your client that includes payment terms and penalties for
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Tactics for Better Business Networking
If you are a self-employed creative, business networking is a significant part of your marketing mix. While designers, illustrators and photographers naturally get together with other creatives for mutual support and trend
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Contracts Protect the Freelancer and the Client
As I write this article I’m in the middle of a contract negotiation involving copyright and licensing of one of my character designs. I worked with
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Doing Good Work and Working for Good
On his Dear Design Student blog on Medium, Mike Monteiro, design director at Mule Design, author and speaker, discusses designers and their ethics. He addresses
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Unpaid Internships Are A Form of Spec Work
Why is spec work so prevalent in the design profession when it’s not in other professions? Increasingly, companies – creative businesses included – are offering
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Does Formal Design Education Matter?
Aesthetic sense and talent are raw materials. They amount to nothing without discipline. Education forces you to add skill, discipline and expertise to your talent. And in order to meet project deadlines, you learn to steward your time.
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5 Inconvenient Truths About Freelancing
Transform the inconveniences of freelancing into opportunities for your personal and professional growth.
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How To Handle Special Requests From Clients
I was asked about how to deal with unusual requests. Once someone finds out you are a designer, writer, photographer… any type of creative, you
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How To Work With Clients
10 Best Practices For Building Reputation and Relationships When you accept a client’s project, you need to make it your own. While you’re not creating for
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